foxychic

HI, posting on behalf of my cousin who is currently in the process of re-locating to the area, she is house-hunting at present, and would like some local feedback on good/bad areas.

She has 2 boys, 9 and 13 and a baby age 1. Her husband will be working at the Raliegh-Durham airport. Schools are a priority obviously, and she needs and area that has largish blocks as they have a dog that needs a big run in the garden.

Any advice appreciated, as she is viewing houses this next week and is anxious to make a good move

thanks guys

NC Penguin

I live in the neighboring city of Durham.

You can check crime stats on Raleigh here:
http://imaps.co.wake.nc.us/imaps/mai...rime&msize=425

I believe RDU Airport is in both Wake and Durham counties so Morrisville, SW and South Durham are close to the airport.

Where does your cousin live now? If she's new to life in the US, it might be best to rent a house for the first year to get a feel for the area before buying a home.

Since you mention a dog needing a place to run outside, that pretty much rules out houses built in the last five years because they are built on small plots and don't have decent size gardens (aka yards in the US). Your cousin should look at subdivisions that are older than 10 years old. That way the yard is likely to be a better size as well as the subdivision being more established.

Here's a forum on the web that includes lots of thread on relocating to the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill):
http://www.city-data.com/forum/ralei...pel-hill-cary/

Search for past threads to answer your questions. If your cousin doesn't see anything relevant, she can post her questions.

foxychic

Thanks for that NC Penguin, I did a search of past threads for her and found some relevant info I think, but thought a fresh post might bring some more info. Great links thanks. She is in Jackson NJ at present, and has lived in the US for the past 14 years, but as you know, US is quite different state to state and I know she is getting axious about picking the right school and stuff. Especially useful about the house age thing as I know she was wanting something less than 10 years, but she may have to re-think that.

Will copy all this info to her.

Cheers

NC Penguin

Well, now you happen to mention that she lives in NJ right now, she'll feel right at home in most of Wake County 'cos it's full of relocated Yankees. The locals (that's native North Carolinians) have a nickname for Cary, NC. They say it stands for "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees"!

It might be easier if she joined BE herself and read and posted here directly.

foxychic

It would really, but she is so stressed with the house hunting, I thought I would help, she has been looking at Wake Forest and found a couple possibles, but I think is widening her search today. She is checking out the links I am sending. (she is originally from UK, but US husband) Thanks

NC Penguin

You said earlier that the husband will be working at RDU. There would be a considerable commute between Wake Forest (in the NE corner of Wake County) and RDU airport (in the western edge of Wake County). I would advise against considering Wake Forest unlike the husband likes interstate drives and traffic jams.

The worst roads for traffic congestion during rush hours (morning and afternoon) in the area are IMO I-40, I-540 (pretty new) and the inner and outer beltlines (I-440).

I very rarely have reason to drive on any of those roads at those times of day and avoid it wherever possible.